South Beach Condos Blog

I get a fair number of calls from Miami Beach real estate sellers asking me for my opinion on why their condo hasn’t sold. I try to help as many people as I can, but sometimes they really aren’t looking for my honest opinion, they want me to confirm their thoughts, which I can’t do. I have to give the information that I know is right. It’s not easy, but this video from real estate maven Barbara Corcoran offers tips, tricks, good ideas and just plain old good-advice.

Here are some common mistakes when selling your Miami Beach or South Beach condo:

1. Making small price reductions. I’ve said it before, so I don’t have to say it again.
2. Hiring the wrong agent. Having a competent, professional agent is more important than ever.
3. Waiting “out” the market. There are many, many, many people thinking that exact same thing.
4. Showing a cluttered home. The competition is stiff, folks. Clean, paint and unclutter.
5. Not taking the first offer. Two out of three times, the first offer is YOUR best offer!

I was watching Channel 7 News last week when a special segment about real estate foreclosures in South Florida aired.  I felt badly for the people in this story that are losing their homes but there are two messages in the video segment below which I feel may be beneficial to some.

It is my feeling that foreclosures in general ARE NOT the best buys for one reason:  the majority of the foreclosures that are available were originally purchased at or near the “peak” of the market—and the banks have lent too much money on these properties.  Since the banks are owed so much money on a typical foreclosed property, they don’t have the ability to sell it at today’s market price.  From WSVN’s Foreclosure Forced Out

Auctioneer: “Welcome to the mortgage foreclosure sale.”

Each week, hundreds of properties in foreclosure are auctioned off.

Auctioneer: ”Home Equity Mortgage Corp. vs. Butler.”

On this day, for the first time in 21 years, not a single property sold, the banks had to keep them all.

Luis Valdeon: “The banks lent too much money. They did first mortgage and second mortgages, and they’re completely off of what the price really are, and that’s why everything is so high; you can’t sell them.”

And the foreclosed properties are piling up.

Click Above to Play Video

Why The Miami Beach Real Estate Market Isn’t That Bad

This is a five year history for the South Beach condo market for area code 33139.  The dark green bar represents condo sales and the light green bar represents condo units on the market.

I know that some of the numbers are a bit hard to read but they really don’t matter anyway.  What matters is the incredible amout of inventory (light green bar) that started to accumulate in May 2005.  The number of sales are off from the peak, but nothing alarming.  The real story here is the amount of inventory on the market.  People have not stopped buying here and Miami Beach real estate continues to sell if it is priced right.  If you need to sell your Miami Beach condo, PRICE IT RIGHT.  If you don’t need to sell your condo, now is NOT the time to sell and you should take it off the market until some of the inventory gets absorbed.  More from Foreclosure Forced Out

Barry Habib: “There’s no simple solution.”

Barry Habib is a nationally known mortgage expert. His advice? Get out before you get in trouble.

Barry Habib: “If they have equity in it, they’ve got to find a way to protect that equity. Put the house up for sale. Don’t be greedy. Don’t try and put it up at an unrealistic number. Homes sell, and they sell very quickly if they’re priced right in every market.”

Photo courtesy of Boston Globe

A reality of today’s market are price reductions.  While most real estate agents try to educate their clients on the state of the current real estate market in Miami Beach, sometimes condo sellers do not heed the advice of their agent for multiple reasons.  What I have found is that most of my seller clients DO understand the reality of the market in general, but their hope usually “gets the best of them” and want to believe that they may be the “lucky one.” 

Today in my email I received NO LESS than 30 emails touting the following:

• 1. Price Reduced. I think “yeah and so?”
• 2. Owner Says Sell.  This is my personal favorite.  I say: “No duh!”
• 3. Motivated Seller.  So I call the agent and they tell me, “the owner wants full price.”  Now that’s MOTIVATED.
• 4. Below appraisal.  I think:  “Man, those people need to give up on that appraisal from 2005!” 

Ok, so you’ve tried the higher price.  Nothing happening.  The silence of the market is deafening.  You call your agent and say, “it’s time to reduce,” (they should have called YOU, but that is the subject of another post), what should you do now?